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On June 30 2013 07:23 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On June 30 2013 06:40 FyRe_DragOn wrote:+ Show Spoiler +OK I hope the TL computer gurus can help me out here, im very uneducated on this kind of thing and am looking to inform myself before purchasing a new computer. what is my budget? 1000$ max, but preferably less than $700-800. Im not sure how much what I want actually should cost. what is my resolution? Im not even sure how to determine this, I have a 17inch monitor which I will use with the new computer. what am I using it for? Mainly playing sc2/hots/BW while streaming and playing music. general internet use and watching movie etc ofc what is my upgrade cycle? I prefer not to upgrade it for a long time and I dont see my needs changing in the near future. Ive had my current computer for about 5years. I just want to buy it and then not have to fuck with it anymore lol when do I plan on building it? Now, although im not sure I want to build a computer in the first place, Id like a comparison between custom build vs premade. Ive never built a computer and not sure how it works exactly do you plan on overclocking? No, i dont know how to overclock and would like my computer to be able to suit my needs without messing with that kind of stuff. do you need an operating system? Yes, windows 7 or 8 look good. All the models in store ive seen use windows 8, but Ive been out of the loop and dont have a lot of trust for windows OS after XP. Is windows 8 good for gaming? Ive heard rumors about some OS not working properly with BW, such as vista. do you plan to add a second GPU etc? No, i dont know what that is or why I would want to do it. where are you buying your parts from? Online, unless there is a place in Calgary, Alberta that can do it for me. I looked around at some computers today in stores and was recommended this computer http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/asus-asus-cm6870-desktop-computer-intel-core-i7-3770-2tb-hdd-16gb-ram-windows-8-cm6870-ca010s/10238824.aspx?path=20d3e53709f74f31bd77abd935b56ea9en02&SearchPageIndex=1 (with a 3gb nvidia geforce gt 640 dedicated video card) for $919 like on the website. Is this a good deal, will it suit my needs? for streaming and playing at the same time, what do I need? Ive also heard that my internet connection can be a limiting factor, how do I tell/improve this? Thanks in advance guys! The resolution is the number of horizontal x vertical pixels. If you go to Control Panel > Appearance & Personalization > Display then it should tell you. But a 17" monitor is ancient and they typically have something like 1280x1024 or 1024x768. Yes, your internet connection can be the limiting factor for streaming. You need 2Mbps or higher upload to stream comfortably. There is zero reason to buy a prebuilt in Canada unless its on a massive sale or its a basic computer for email / Facebook. Nearly all the Canadian electronic retailers pricematch and offer the option to build the computer for you at a small fee. NCIX does it for $50 and Memory Express does it. The ASUS computer has a low-end graphics card so it is not suited for gaming but Starcraft II isn't graphically demanding and your resolution is shit so it may be able to run the game on low settings. Both the core i7 and 16gb of memory is unnecessary for gaming. As well as the Blu-ray drive unless you actually do play Blu-ray on your PC which I doubt you do. You can get something better built for you at the same price. A configuration made not too long ago, only $1157 and its significantly better than that prebuilt. if you remove the SSD, it actually comes out to only $50 more then your prebuilt. If you remove the ability to overclock than it would end up being almost $100 less expensive while still being better. And since you've mentioned you're only interested in playing old games then a GTX 760 is not necessary so you can get a lower-end card at ~$120 which would still max Starcraft II at 1080p, this would take off another ~$150. This is rather a very good build so there's a lot of stuff you can make cheaper and as sad as it is, it'll still be better than the prebuilt. + Show Spoiler [$1157 configuration] +
Thanks for the reply! I have a few more questions: So I have a 1440 x 900 resolution, does that mean it cant express the power of a high end graphics card? So I would be better off just getting a decent one? Could you give me an example of a good graphics card that would allow me to get the most out of sc2 considering my monitor and wouldnt be wasted on it?
You say I can remove the SSD and the ability to overclock and reduce the price considerably..im assuming the Samsung 840 250gb is the SSD..but what machine gives me the ability to overclock that I could also remove?
About internet connection, how can I tell what connection I have, and how can I improve it if its sub par?
Again TY for any help, it is appreciated
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United Kingdom20326 Posts
I have a few more questions: So I have a 1440 x 900 resolution, does that mean it cant express the power of a high end graphics card? So I would be better off just getting a decent one? Could you give me an example of a good graphics card that would allow me to get the most out of sc2 considering my monitor and wouldnt be wasted on it?
To answer this, 1440x900 = 1.296 million pixels, 1920x1080 = 2.304 million pixels, ~78% more, so you need ~78% stronger GPU (as a loose guideline, other factors apply) for the same FPS on the same settings on the higher resolution
Just for sc2 on 1440x900, you'd be fine with a 7750, but you should probably get a 1920x1080 monitor.
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On June 30 2013 13:54 FyRe_DragOn wrote:+ Show Spoiler +On June 30 2013 07:23 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On June 30 2013 06:40 FyRe_DragOn wrote:+ Show Spoiler +OK I hope the TL computer gurus can help me out here, im very uneducated on this kind of thing and am looking to inform myself before purchasing a new computer. what is my budget? 1000$ max, but preferably less than $700-800. Im not sure how much what I want actually should cost. what is my resolution? Im not even sure how to determine this, I have a 17inch monitor which I will use with the new computer. what am I using it for? Mainly playing sc2/hots/BW while streaming and playing music. general internet use and watching movie etc ofc what is my upgrade cycle? I prefer not to upgrade it for a long time and I dont see my needs changing in the near future. Ive had my current computer for about 5years. I just want to buy it and then not have to fuck with it anymore lol when do I plan on building it? Now, although im not sure I want to build a computer in the first place, Id like a comparison between custom build vs premade. Ive never built a computer and not sure how it works exactly do you plan on overclocking? No, i dont know how to overclock and would like my computer to be able to suit my needs without messing with that kind of stuff. do you need an operating system? Yes, windows 7 or 8 look good. All the models in store ive seen use windows 8, but Ive been out of the loop and dont have a lot of trust for windows OS after XP. Is windows 8 good for gaming? Ive heard rumors about some OS not working properly with BW, such as vista. do you plan to add a second GPU etc? No, i dont know what that is or why I would want to do it. where are you buying your parts from? Online, unless there is a place in Calgary, Alberta that can do it for me. I looked around at some computers today in stores and was recommended this computer http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/product/asus-asus-cm6870-desktop-computer-intel-core-i7-3770-2tb-hdd-16gb-ram-windows-8-cm6870-ca010s/10238824.aspx?path=20d3e53709f74f31bd77abd935b56ea9en02&SearchPageIndex=1 (with a 3gb nvidia geforce gt 640 dedicated video card) for $919 like on the website. Is this a good deal, will it suit my needs? for streaming and playing at the same time, what do I need? Ive also heard that my internet connection can be a limiting factor, how do I tell/improve this? Thanks in advance guys! The resolution is the number of horizontal x vertical pixels. If you go to Control Panel > Appearance & Personalization > Display then it should tell you. But a 17" monitor is ancient and they typically have something like 1280x1024 or 1024x768. Yes, your internet connection can be the limiting factor for streaming. You need 2Mbps or higher upload to stream comfortably. There is zero reason to buy a prebuilt in Canada unless its on a massive sale or its a basic computer for email / Facebook. Nearly all the Canadian electronic retailers pricematch and offer the option to build the computer for you at a small fee. NCIX does it for $50 and Memory Express does it. The ASUS computer has a low-end graphics card so it is not suited for gaming but Starcraft II isn't graphically demanding and your resolution is shit so it may be able to run the game on low settings. Both the core i7 and 16gb of memory is unnecessary for gaming. As well as the Blu-ray drive unless you actually do play Blu-ray on your PC which I doubt you do. You can get something better built for you at the same price. A configuration made not too long ago, only $1157 and its significantly better than that prebuilt. if you remove the SSD, it actually comes out to only $50 more then your prebuilt. If you remove the ability to overclock than it would end up being almost $100 less expensive while still being better. And since you've mentioned you're only interested in playing old games then a GTX 760 is not necessary so you can get a lower-end card at ~$120 which would still max Starcraft II at 1080p, this would take off another ~$150. This is rather a very good build so there's a lot of stuff you can make cheaper and as sad as it is, it'll still be better than the prebuilt. + Show Spoiler [$1157 configuration] + Thanks for the reply! I have a few more questions: So I have a 1440 x 900 resolution, does that mean it cant express the power of a high end graphics card? So I would be better off just getting a decent one? Could you give me an example of a good graphics card that would allow me to get the most out of sc2 considering my monitor and wouldnt be wasted on it? You say I can remove the SSD and the ability to overclock and reduce the price considerably..im assuming the Samsung 840 250gb is the SSD..but what machine gives me the ability to overclock that I could also remove? About internet connection, how can I tell what connection I have, and how can I improve it if its sub par? Again TY for any help, it is appreciated
Samsung 840 is the SSD, yes. You can remove it if you don't care about system responsiveness (boot / load times). HDDs are snails once you've experienced a SSD.
Replace the Z87 motherboard with a B85 motherboard, something like the Gigabyte B85M-HD3 for $75: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=84037 , pricematch with http://www.bestdirect.ca/products/253572/Gigabyte/GA_B85M_HD3/
Replace the Core i5 4670k with a Core i5 4670 for $225: http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=81328 , pricematch with http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8037044
Remove the Noctua NH-U12S as the Intel provided heatsink will be sufficient for stock settings.
That takes off a total of ~$130. Since you don't have Windows 7/8, you'll need to put $100 towards that.
For a low resolution like 1440x900, you could get a Radeon HD7750 as mentioned which is about ~$100. A 7750 would still be able to play Starcraft II at 1080p, maybe not on max settings but it'd still do well. You could also godown further to a Radeon HD6670 which would be about ~$70. This basically reduces the price by ~$160-$200.
If you want to reduce the price further:
You could get a budget power supply which would be similar (most likely better) than the one found in the prebuilt: rather than the Seasonic G which is a very high quality unit. Something like a Corsair CX430 instead would reduce the price by another $40: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=76034&promoid=1316
You can get a less expensive case like a Bitfenix Merc Beta for $30: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=81659&promoid=1316 rather than the sound dampening Fractal Design Define R4.
Oh, the build doesn't have a disc drive so if you need one of those than you can add a burner for like $15.
Keep in mind if you want it assembled, you need to purchase all the parts from one retailer. eg. NCIX and then add: http://ncix.com/products/?sku=76034&promoid=1316 to your cart for assembly. Or if you have a local Memory Express, you can ask them about it as well but their selection is sort of limited compared to NCIX.
You can figure out what your internet connection speed is with speedtest.net . If it's subpar than you'd need to pay more money for a better plan.
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So i'm back, wanted to get some final input. I would like to upgrade my processor, unless it doesn't need it? It is quite old, but still popular. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727
I was thinking of getting an i7
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501
Someone told me that the upgrade to the 4th gen was not really worth it, is this true?
I will, however, also need a new mobo. Suggestions?
Budget: $500-600
Res: 1920x1080
use: gaming. I would like to be able to play system hogging games well.
upgrade cycle: 3-5 years
when: as soon as possible, but it could wait if it would worth it
overclocking?: maybe, but most likely not.
GPU: maybe one day I'll add another GPU, but I have a 7950 right now, so I'm pretty sure I'm good in that regard, lol.
There is a Fry's nearby, yes.
I am also looking into getting a SSD, but I know someone who can advise me on that.
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On July 01 2013 06:10 Introvert wrote:+ Show Spoiler +So i'm back, wanted to get some final input. I would like to upgrade my processor, unless it doesn't need it? It is quite old, but still popular. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727I was thinking of getting an i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501Someone told me that the upgrade to the 4th gen was not really worth it, is this true? I will, however, also need a new mobo. Suggestions? Budget: $500-600 Res: 1920x1080 use: gaming. I would like to be able to play system hogging games well. upgrade cycle: 3-5 years when: as soon as possible, but it could wait if it would worth it overclocking?: maybe, but most likely not. GPU: maybe one day I'll add another GPU, but I have a 7950 right now, so I'm pretty sure I'm good in that regard, lol. There is a Fry's nearby, yes. I am also looking into getting a SSD, but I know someone who can advise me on that.
The Phenom II X4 was already behind versus Bloomfield and Sandybridge, that gap just grows bigger when you put it up against an overclocked Haswell. Newegg has the core i5 4670k + Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H for like $340 or something which is like ~$100 off, amazing deal for anyone purchasing a new CPU.
Keep in mind most games don't use more than four cores so purchasing an i7 rather than an i5 probably won't be worth it.
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On July 01 2013 06:10 Introvert wrote:+ Show Spoiler +So i'm back, wanted to get some final input. I would like to upgrade my processor, unless it doesn't need it? It is quite old, but still popular. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727I was thinking of getting an i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501Someone told me that the upgrade to the 4th gen was not really worth it, is this true? I will, however, also need a new mobo. Suggestions? Budget: $500-600 Res: 1920x1080 use: gaming. I would like to be able to play system hogging games well. upgrade cycle: 3-5 years when: as soon as possible, but it could wait if it would worth it overclocking?: maybe, but most likely not. GPU: maybe one day I'll add another GPU, but I have a 7950 right now, so I'm pretty sure I'm good in that regard, lol. There is a Fry's nearby, yes. I am also looking into getting a SSD, but I know someone who can advise me on that.
Are you sure you want to upgrade the CPU and board? What's not running well at the moment? The CPU should actually still be pretty good for a lot of things.
You should buy 4th generation, i5-4xxx and i7-4xxx. You can choose i5 CPUs instead of i7. The i5 saves you $100 and you won't see any difference in performance for nearly all games and programs. The top CPUs are i5-4670 and i7-4770, a "k" at the end means they are unlocked and can be overclocked.
Overclocking seems pretty involved, I think takes a full day of reading and even more experimenting. This might actually be fun or it might be annoying, depends on the person. It can get you a few extra years of use out of the CPU and board, so the price difference should be worth it.
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On July 01 2013 07:08 skyR wrote:Show nested quote +On July 01 2013 06:10 Introvert wrote:+ Show Spoiler +So i'm back, wanted to get some final input. I would like to upgrade my processor, unless it doesn't need it? It is quite old, but still popular. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727I was thinking of getting an i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501Someone told me that the upgrade to the 4th gen was not really worth it, is this true? I will, however, also need a new mobo. Suggestions? Budget: $500-600 Res: 1920x1080 use: gaming. I would like to be able to play system hogging games well. upgrade cycle: 3-5 years when: as soon as possible, but it could wait if it would worth it overclocking?: maybe, but most likely not. GPU: maybe one day I'll add another GPU, but I have a 7950 right now, so I'm pretty sure I'm good in that regard, lol. There is a Fry's nearby, yes. I am also looking into getting a SSD, but I know someone who can advise me on that. The Phenom II X4 was already behind versus Bloomfield and Sandybridge, that gap just grows bigger when you put it up against an overclocked Haswell. Newegg has the core i5 4670k + Gigabyte Z87X-UD3H for like $340 or something which is like ~$100 off, amazing deal for anyone purchasing a new CPU. Keep in mind most games don't use more than four cores so purchasing an i7 rather than an i5 probably won't be worth it.
Does it appear that it will quite a long time before games begin to take advantage of what the i7 can do? With the latest set of consoles coming out, is it conceivable that developers will start to make substantial improvements that require better hardware? I'm not trying to talk myself into one, I just want something that will last a long time. Thanks for the help.
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On July 01 2013 07:10 Ropid wrote:Show nested quote +On July 01 2013 06:10 Introvert wrote:+ Show Spoiler +So i'm back, wanted to get some final input. I would like to upgrade my processor, unless it doesn't need it? It is quite old, but still popular. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103727I was thinking of getting an i7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501Someone told me that the upgrade to the 4th gen was not really worth it, is this true? I will, however, also need a new mobo. Suggestions? Budget: $500-600 Res: 1920x1080 use: gaming. I would like to be able to play system hogging games well. upgrade cycle: 3-5 years when: as soon as possible, but it could wait if it would worth it overclocking?: maybe, but most likely not. GPU: maybe one day I'll add another GPU, but I have a 7950 right now, so I'm pretty sure I'm good in that regard, lol. There is a Fry's nearby, yes. I am also looking into getting a SSD, but I know someone who can advise me on that. Are you sure you want to upgrade the CPU and board? What's not running well at the moment? The CPU should actually still be pretty good for a lot of things. You should buy 4th generation, i5-4xxx and i7-4xxx. You can choose i5 CPUs instead of i7. The i5 saves you $100 and you won't see any difference in performance for nearly all games and programs. The top CPUs are i5-4670 and i7-4770, a "k" at the end means they are unlocked and can be overclocked. Overclocking seems pretty involved, I think takes a full day of reading and even more experimenting. This might actually be fun or it might be annoying, depends on the person. It can get you a few extra years of use out of the CPU and board, so the price difference should be worth it.
I'm upgrading now while my expenses are minimal. Starting around next year, I will have substantially more monetary obligations.
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Hey, total PC building noobie here looking for some help building. I say help, but I actually just want to steal one of your builds, or have you guys tell me exactly what I'm looking for. I'm sorry if that's frowned upon, but it's the only way I know how at the moment.
What is your budget?
~$650 tops
What is your resolution?
1366x786
What are you using it for?
Gaming and audio editing. I really want something that can play sc2 at a really good and stable framerate (no less than 60, ever, on lowest), and that can play modern games. That's a big deal for me, since I've never been able to play games within 5 years of their release date.
What is your upgrade cycle?
Probably pretty long.
When do you plan on building it?
Soon. Like, within 2 weeks.
Do you plan on overclocking?
I doubt it. Maybe further on, but not at first.
Do you need an Operating System?
Actually, no; my uni gives that to me for free.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Nope.
Where are you buying your parts from?
Wherever I can get them cheapest; I live in the boonies, and there is no Fry's or Microcenter near me.
Thanks for the help, guys. I really appreciate it, and I hope someday I can be the one answering these questions for a noobie.
addendum: I remembered that this includes a monitor. It doesn't have to be big, just no lag.
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On July 01 2013 08:03 Phyanketto wrote:
Hey, total PC building noobie here looking for some help building. I say help, but I actually just want to steal one of your builds, or have you guys tell me exactly what I'm looking for. I'm sorry if that's frowned upon, but it's the only way I know how at the moment.
What is your budget?
~$650 tops
What is your resolution?
1366x786
What are you using it for?
Gaming and audio editing. I really want something that can play sc2 at a really good and stable framerate (no less than 60, ever, on lowest), and that can play modern games. That's a big deal for me, since I've never been able to play games within 5 years of their release date.
What is your upgrade cycle?
Probably pretty long.
When do you plan on building it?
Soon. Like, within 2 weeks.
Do you plan on overclocking?
I doubt it. Maybe further on, but not at first.
Do you need an Operating System?
Actually, no; my uni gives that to me for free.
Do you plan to add a second GPU for SLI or Crossfire?
Nope.
Where are you buying your parts from?
Wherever I can get them cheapest; I live in the boonies, and there is no Fry's or Microcenter near me.
Thanks for the help, guys. I really appreciate it, and I hope someday I can be the one answering these questions for a noobie.
addendum: I remembered that this includes a monitor. It doesn't have to be big, just no lag.
HIS 7750 @ 90$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161403
i5-4430 @ 190$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116895 (If you buy this before other stuff you get a 15$ gift card which you could put to everything else, assuming it ships with everything).
NZXT Source 210 in White or Black @ 35$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146076
Asrock H87M Pro4 @ 78$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157384
G.Skill 4GB (2x2) @ 34$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231396
Corsair CX-430 @ 40$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139026
Asus DVD Burner @ 17$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204
500GB WD 7200RPM hard drive @ 60$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136769
1080P IPS Asus VS229H-P @ 126$ with promo code IPSMNT25: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236205
Total: $671.91 before rebate, $651 after rebate.
I would highly recommend getting that monitor, 1080p is such an unbelievable step up from 768p that you'll love it. And that monitor is really nice (I have it myself) for that price. $530 without the monitor though.
The 7750 will be able to probably do up to high on SC2 @ 1080p, it will max 768p easily though, so even if you don't get the monitor, it's more than enough GPU power.
If you don't want the monitor, get a Samsung 840 120GB for 100$: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147188 which would bring your total to about $640 though.
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Yeah, an i3 is also a possibility, you could save some money there. Speaking from personal experience though, you definitely will not get > 30 fps late game 1v1 even with low graphics, it could dip into the 20s. You'll have trouble with all but the overclocked CPUs with that though, although the i5 4430 should be a noticeable step up I think.
I just saw your addendum that you -do- want a monitor. If so, I'd get the Asus and either an i5-4430 or an i3 + Samsung 840. The i5 should give you a noticeable increase in SC2 performance I think, while an i3 + SSD would give a noticeable increase in system performance. You'll just have to pick which one means more to you.
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Wow guys, thanks for all the input!
I'd definitely need 8 gb of RAM, so I guess I can add to that cost a little. I don't need an SSD, and my gaming performance is what takes precedence, so I guess an i5 is what I would go with. Out of curiosity, are the AMD processors not more bang for your buck? I was looking at some of them, and they were putting out 3.6 gHz with 4 or 6 cores.
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Compared to AMD's latest Vishera (Piledriver architecture) CPUs like FX-8350, given an equivalent clock speed and number of cores, a current-gen Intel CPU is over 60% faster in many tasks.
So if you see 3.6 GHz, read something more like 2.2 GHz if you want to naively compare in a very oversimplified sense to the latest Intel processors.
In a lot of games, an i5 is not going to matter over an i3, but a graphics card is a whole lot easier and cheaper to replace (don't need new motherboard) than a CPU, so if you're amenable to upgrading a video card in a few years, I'd suggest skimping a bit on that side instead. But for many or most games, you're really better off with the i3 and a better video card, if you like turning up details settings.
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Honestly I just want performance. Pros play on low, and so will I. I just don't want big dips in performance, so I suppose if I skimp on the video card.... How much can I skimp before it becomes an issue?
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United Kingdom20326 Posts
Out of curiosity, are the AMD processors not more bang for your buck? I was looking at some of them, and they were putting out 3.6 gHz with 4 or 6 cores.
An AMD FX-8350 (or fx-9000 series that they are releasing soon) overclocked to 5ghz scores ~1.32 on Cinebench 11.5 singlethreaded, while similarly overclocked Haswell i5 (lets say 4.7) scores ~2.1 or so.
Haswell i5 is a bit behind in multithreaded performance in some cases - but Haswell i7 wins there too while maintaining the same singlethreaded - while using half as much power
AMD has some great options for budget multithreaded, cheap quad cores, fx-6300 which is really cheap.
When i bought my i7 4770k - the i5 was £190, i7 was £275 and the FX-8350, AMD's flagship, was £139. It's pretty amazing for them to get such multithreaded performance at such a low price point - but ultimately, multithreaded does not really matter for sc2 and some other games and tasks (which like you getting 1 core as high performance as possible as long as you have at least 2-3 cores)
And in the end, the possibility of having a CPU that is as much as 60% better in singlethreaded performance while being borderline as good in multithreaded (winning in x264 and crysis 3, bf4, aka the games that use many cores and perform well on fx) for only like £100 more is pretty insane. It's the core of your system and extremely important for a very wide variety of tasks. Phenom II and FX gives you nice multithreaded performance at a low price point, but they're not the best CPU's, they're not anywhere remotely close to the best CPU's for singlethreaded performance, and it's hard to justify them for any performance build
so I suppose if I skimp on the video card.... How much can I skimp before it becomes an issue?
Belial streamed sc2 on ivy bridge integrated graphics, they could pull like 45fps on med settings 1366x786. If you really want to skimp on GPU, you can get a hd7750 or a part from the last few gens that is cheaper, used etc.
It's rarely worth to go below 7750 i think, just take Alryk's build, if you want to add more performance then switch some things around and overclock + add faster RAM, but it's a lot more of an investment to do that
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On July 01 2013 10:35 Myrmidon wrote:
Compared to AMD's latest Vishera (Piledriver architecture) CPUs like FX-8350, given an equivalent clock speed and number of cores, a current-gen Intel CPU is over 60% faster in many tasks.
So if you see 3.6 GHz, read something more like 2.2 GHz if you want to naively compare in a very oversimplified sense to the latest Intel processors.
In a lot of games, an i5 is not going to matter over an i3, but a graphics card is a whole lot easier and cheaper to replace (don't need new motherboard) than a CPU, so if you're amenable to upgrading a video card in a few years, I'd suggest skimping a bit on that side instead. But for many or most games, you're really better off with the i3 and a better video card, if you like turning up details settings.
Well if he plays primarily SC2, an i5 would be a pretty decent upgrade over an i3. It's going to hit slightly higher clocks, plus we've seen Haswell just perform better for SC2, which has something naturally to do with the 10%ish IPC gain. For pretty much any other game though I'd totally agree.
@person in question: You should just stick with a 7750. You could always do integrated graphics, but a 7750 is so cheap and fits in your budget well, on the off chance that you ever want to raise the graphics for anything, you aren't in any trouble.
Maybe it's just me, because the links seem like they should be right, but every one of those (or at least the first 3) lead me to the us.ncix.com home page.
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EPT
